Order 66
by Nemo the Wanderer
Summary: A short about one Jedi in the Temple when Darth Vader and the 501st started their deadly raid.


Small beads of salty sweat drip onto my upper lip and I lick them away.  
Master Cin Drallig retracts his blade with a smile and I do the same.

"Good to see you haven't lost your touch, Deryn."

"I have to stay sharp these days, Master."

"Indeed," he replies in a wistful tone.

"Not to worry, Master Drallig. The War will be over soon and the Jedi can go back to our old role. Besides, this new army will definitely help streamline the peace-keeping process."

I smile optimistically as I hook my lightsaber to my belt.

"I'm going to retire now, Master. Maybe you ought to get some sleep too."

"Wish I could, Deryn. I've got to meet some younglings for a private lesson tonight, but I'll get some extra sleep between lessons tomorrow. I too sense the War coming to a close, but Master Windu seems to sense an even darker time coming soon. So for now all I can do is keep training future Jedi and hope that they never need to use what they learn."

I bow and turn to go, casting back a "Goodnight, Master Drallig" as I step through the doorway and head for the chamber I'm staying in while I wait for my next assignment.

After taking a shower and meditating on my sparring match with the Blademaster, I lie down and fall into a restless sleep.

I hear screams and marching boots, and see a tall, dark figure with a sapphire blade and wake with a start.

I look at the chrono and see I've only slept an hour, but I feel no need to rest anymore. The Force sends me a sense of anger, pain, and a cold wave of duty.

I quickly don a set of pants and my belt, grabbing my lightsaber as I head down the hallway toward the public entryway...  
And stop in my tracks, jaw hanging in disbelief.

There, ascending the stairs are a hoard of GAR Troopers lead by the same man from my dream, negative emotions emanate from him like a giant red star ready to go supernova.

A Sergeant spots me and fires two shots before I hide behind the corner and red bolts of energy fill the space I just vacated. An alarm goes off, filling the spacious halls with a deafening white noise that does nothing to drown out the dying screams of the Temple Security forces and Sentinels as they succumb to the maelstrom of blasterfire.

I see Master Drallig's Padawan, the girl who's name I could never remember. She confronts the leader of this horrific raid. I almost yell in surprise when he lowers his hood.

Anakin Skywalker!?

They begin to duel just as a group of troopers catch sight of me. I flee, knowing there are too many to fight head-on. My first thought goes to the Younglings.

I have to get them to safety.

I continue down the hallway until I reach a maintenance panel. I break the lock with telekinesis, having never bothered to keep up with the codes for these things. Closing the hatch behind me, I double back the way I came since the younglings live in a wing of the Temple opposite the direction I had run.

By the time I get to the younglings' quarters I can sense the battle spreading throughout the Temple as Jedi after Jedi fall to the shear numbers of the troopers.  
And Skywalker's blade.

I push aside the million questions bouncing around my skull just as I push aside the newly broken access panel. The younglings are all awake and dressed, their faces creased with worry as they turn to look at me.

A human girl of around eleven years steps forward. I recognize her as Ari Chen, a potential Padawan I've been scoping out.

"Jedi Stormrider, what's the matter? Is the Temple in trouble?"

She chooses her words carefully for the sake of the younger ones. I make a note of it for my next meeting with the council, if there still is a council.

"The Temple is no longer safe, I'm going to get you out."

Another child, a Twi'lek boy, speaks the question I've only just answered myself:  
"But where will we go?"

I place a hand on his head and the other on Ari's shoulder as I address the dozen or so younglings in the room.  
"There are some access tunnels under the Temple that lead to the lower levels of the Industrial District. The only entrance I know of is in the Archives. Everyone get in here, stay close and stay quiet."

The younglings hurry to comply, falling in line behind me and waiting for their next instruction.

I Telekinetically move a bunk onto its side and over the open access panel.

That ought to slow them a bit

The younglings follow me closely and quietly down the cramped and dimly lit access hall. Every so often muffled sounds of blasterfire or lightsabers can be heard, but the younglings stay silent.

Before long we reach the intersection that leads to the Archives, but we are on the wrong side and there is no way across except to come out into the corridor. I can sense at least half a dozen troopers in the intersection and quickly form a plan.

I whisper behind me, "Ari, you run faster than anyone here, myself included. Go back about a hundred meters and make some noise. On my signal run back here and get inside the Archives. Master Nu will get you to the tunnels."

"Right," she nods and disappears down the tunnel. A few seconds later I hear a clang of metal on metal, some scraping and another loud clang.

I feel most of the troopers move down the corridor to investigate, leaving only two at the intersection.

"Okay, that's about as good as this is going to get. On my signal, I want you all to run as fast and as low as you can to the Archive. Get inside, shut the doors and don't open them unless Master Nu says it's safe. And don't believe a word you hear from Anakin Skywalker."

I hear Blasters firing and hitting the wall down the direction I sent Ari, but then I hear more clanging and her voice moving further away.  
"You missed me, you dumb clones!"

Smiling despite myself I silently open the access door. The two troopers are standing over the body of a Nautolan Jedi and looking down the hall toward their companions.

Gesturing for the younglings to stay still I use the Force to toss the Jedi's commlink down a hall facing away from the door and as one trooper turns to look I snap the other's neck and he drops instantly.  
The first trooper looks back and meets the same fate.

I peek out down the hall to find the troopers taking pot-shots at the wall, trying to hit the elusive young girl. A glance down the other halls reveal a distinct lack of danger, so I quietly step into the main corridor and retrieve the fallen Knight's weapon before waving the younglings toward the entrance to the Archive room.

The younglings move stealthily, just as I instructed them, but as soon as the Librarian opens the door for them the troops register our presence and open fire. I ignite both my blade and that of the Nautolan, her green contrasting with my blue to form an aqua blur as I smack the red bolts of energy back toward their origin. Four of the troops take cover once the others are dead, giving me time to shout a quick "Now, Ari, run!" Before five more troops appear and the barrage resumes.

"Wait, Master Nu, Ari's coming!" I hear the Twi'lek boy say just as the girl clears the access hatch. Suddenly the troopers stop firing and an uneasy silence echoes across the hallway, broken only by the closing of the door behind Ari.

I hear a set of boots walking slowly, purposefully closer as the troopers stand at attention.

I relax my stance just as Anakin turns a corner and strides closer until he stands three meters away from me.

His cloak is tattered and scorched in places from his previous battles. My bare chest glistens with sweat. He begins to remove his cloak as he speaks in a voice dripping with malice.

"The Jedi order has committed an act of high treason against Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Republic. Surrender now or die."

"But you're a Jedi, Skywalker! Or at least you were."

"Anakin Skywalker is dead. My name is Darth Vader and I am here to eradicate the threat to the Republic that is the Jedi Order. Surrender now and swear loyalty to Chancellor Palpatine or I will strike you down where you stand. I will not ask again."

"Darth Vader, eh? Well I am Jedi Knight Deryn Stormrider and I would rather die than surrender to a Sith."

"So be it." 

Vader tosses his cloak down and ignites his lightsaber and I settle into a Soresu stance.

He strikes first, swinging down to my head, but I deflect down and spin my body around to bring my blue blade across his back. He spins with my parry and blocks hard against my strike, pushing it back into my face. I break off, reversing my original spin and bringing the green blade down to smack Vader's blue blade away from my left thigh.

He charges me with a hard-and-fast series of strikes, driving me back toward the now locked Archive doors. Even with an extra weapon and several more years of experience, however, Vader is still taller, faster, and stronger than me.  
And I'm getting tired.

Finally I see an opening; after failing to cut my ankle he spins his lightsaber up across his face and back down to my other ankle. I block with my borrowed weapon and swing my blue blade at his head, putting the full force of my body into this last desperate stroke.

Quicker than thought, he ducks under my attack and steps back, pulling his blade away from mine and diagonally up across my chest.

The pain is excruciating and it is all I can do not to scream as I hit my knees and drop both lightsabers.

No sooner have the blades extinguished and the hilts hit the floor than Darth Vader speaks my eulogy;

"I warned you, Deryn Stormrider. This is what happens when you defy the Sith"

And with that, he mercifully ends my pain with one last slash of his sapphire blade.


End file.
